Stuck at home-workouts from the hardware store
Back in the day, I had the privilege of working with renowned strength coach Charles Poliquin.
One thing Charles was adamant about was the value of Strongman training. The point he'd drive home was simply:
"Strongman training makes you better at weights, but weight training does not make you better at strongman training"
During this Covid-19 lockdown, those of you that combed amazon for workout ideas found quickly that the free market suddenly made dumbbell futures 10 fold their value prior to the lockdown and even a rubber band with two handles was now worth 100 fold the material therein.
As a trainer, your job is to adjust on the fly taking into account your clients' limitations as much as goals. I have a client Peter, that honestly had a pair of 5 and 8lb dumbbells and a chin-up bar. .and our first program was admirable in ingenuity but meh for variety.
We're at 9 weeks now and Peter needed something different to light him up. I thought about "sandbag" training but my industry is not kind to the consumer and a simple "hockey bag" to hold sand was selling for upwards of $90/bag (diff. sizes) and you'd have to buy the sand after. so 3 different sizes meant upwards of $300.
I decided to look up Home Depot which has remained open. .and, sure enough, bags of sand to gravel went from 12 kg to upwards of 35kg (the 35kg bag was all of $6.98). The only add-on in my mind was a ton of duct tape to ensure anything dropped didn't open up all over the floor.
Basic compound moves go a long way to recruiting much functional musculature so when the gyms re-open, you have that much more ready to rock (so to speak).
Our program included the following basics:
Sandbag Zercher Carries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE5FNJmgZtQ
Sandbag Zercher Squats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARHB-ihE6jY
Sandbag Push/ Press: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYGTpCNSTkg
Add to this some basic pushup and core regimes and you'd be surprisingly covered for whole-body stimulation if not progression as these moves trump machines for muscular involvement.
Now during this lockdown, we really do grow numb and fatigued. .every client reaching me profiles as dopamine deficient. Remember that Dopamine is known as the feel-good neurotransmitter—a chemical that ferries information between neurons. The brain releases it when we eat food that we crave or while we have sex, contributing to feelings of pleasure and satisfaction as part of the reward system.
The more we feel "reward" from the workouts, the more we'll do this "good stuff"
I use 2 scoops of ATP Neuro Brain Factor pre-workout: atplab.com/products/neuro-brain-factor
Post-workout it's all about recuperation and this type of training is a real drain on the CNS as much as the musculature
At this time I use:
2 Scoops of NZ Whey (I like Vanilla): atplab.com/products/new-zealand-whey
2 scoops PENTA-CARB (I like mango/ pineapple to go with the vanilla): atplab.com/collections/all/products/pentacarb
Hopefully, this gives you an alternative to your current home workouts- I promise it's significantly more challenging than it reads. Give it a try.
Who loves ya?
"Coach Mike"
